This shift from infrastructure to impact is reshing the way life sciences organizations think, act and compete. Four engines of impact: From Projects to digital assets

Sinha described four “engines” that are driving the shift away from traditional projects and towards scalable digital impact. “One of the things that you can do with digital is to shift from project teams doing work, to digital assets doing work,” said Sinha.

Before, it could take up to an entire year for major business decisions such as restructuring the sales force in order to launch a new product. Ten years ago, it took six months to research and six more months to implement. The cycle lasted about a full year. Sinha noted. First, the decision-making cycle has been compressed significantly. “Decision-making can either be accelerated, or planning can be merged with execution,” he said. In place of quarterly planning cycles it is now done on the fly. “It’s a continuous rather than discrete process,” said he. First, digital tools help break down silos. Sinha explained that traditionally, in large companies the departments of sales, service and marketing were quite segregated. Now, digital is breaking down these vertical barriers. It was also important to him that centralised be used. He said: “All of this can only be achieved through centralising marketing and sales – the fourth component.” Sinha, who spoke about AI and for customer engagement, said that the top 100 pharmaceutical companies in the US are all doing it. The differences are in the sophistication. But “in terms of helping salespeople and marketers to determine how to allocate resources, this is a universal AI driven activity now.” Around 70% of ZS’s global workforce are based in India. Much of the intellectual properties behind ZAIDYN – the company’s AI-powered platform – is also developed here. Sinha noted that India was not only a cost center, but also a talent hub. Indian teams were increasingly client-facing, and the innovation process is centered in India. “Much innovation… Many of the algorithm programmes are developed in India.” Sinha said that there is a lack of automated bots being used by companies with customers and physicians. In almost all cases, a human is checking what is hpening. “So, I think that trust is best established through people right now.”

Not more technology, but better decisions will drive healthcare’s next le.

Healthcare data volumes continue to grow ridly – from consumer searches and physician queries to millions of sales interactions per year within a single large pharmaceutical company. Sinha explained that the value of understanding patterns between similar doctors, similar decision-makers, and similar hospitals will come through understanding. He claimed that better informational symmetry could reduce wasted products and improve alignment between product needs and patient requirements. Sinha stated, “Three year implementation cycles are not viable.” The technology is changing faster than the companies can implement it.

Platforms, such as ZAIDYN enable organisations to “be up-and-running within weeks, rather than years,” and to connect evolving tools, without having to rebuild their infrastructure with each new technological advancement. The Bottom Line

Healthcare’s next breakthrough will not be achieved by incrementally adopting technology, Sinha believes. “Competitive differentiating will come from superior intelligence in decision making, not just technology deployment,” said Sinha. The technology may provide the tools but the advantage will go to the organisations who transform data into smarter and faster decisions in the healthcare ecosystem.

Published On February 26, 2026 at 3:07 PM (IST)

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